Mavis Gallant's Bernadette

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and hard act.

The story is set in Quebec during the 1940-1950, when what you were was
the definition of who you were. As the story opens we are presented with the
main character Bernadette, who is concluding that she is one hundred and
twenty-six days pregnant. At this time in history it was quit common for young
rural girls to bare children at a young age. However, Bernadette is a single
French Canadian girl who is working and living in a urban community, where
things like that do not take place. We are here introduced to the first fear
presented in the story: --How will Bernadette tell the Knights that she is
pregnant? -- The answer to the question is what haunts her, and the reaction of
the Knights is the anxiety that builds up inside of her. These intimidating
fears places Bernadette in a compromising situation, she is in a position of
abandonment by her family and the shame she thinks she has brought on to the
Knights. These fears have forced her to react in an ...

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